Dance cards - a defence/ Reeling Balls

L. Friedman-Shedlov

March 3, 2006, 6:43 p.m. (Message 44460)

On Fri, 3 Mar 2006, Edward Fryer wrote:
>  As the easiest method to 
> sell/advertise is by word of mouth, generally each member of the committee 
> will take a party. By pre booking using dance cards, it makes sure everybody 
> in your party gets to dance with everybody else in the party.
> "What about dancing out of party" you ask - well, it's a little frowned upon. 
> The host/ess has done a lot of work to assemble an amenable group of people, 
> quite likely fed them dinner, and wants them to have a good time. Having one 
> of your party wander off and dance with someone else out of party, leaving 
> one of his/her party without a partner is a little annoying.

So, it sounds like the bottom line is that it is simply not a good idea 
for individuals (or maybe even individual couples) to attend reeling 
balls, because people attend them as pre-formed groups and don't want to 
be broken up.  It seems kind of like going to a restaurant -- it's open to 
the public, but people go in their own groups and wouldn't welcome 
outsiders sitting down at their table. You are all enjoying the same food, 
but are there to socialize with the people you come with, but not really 
with others.

Regarding dance cards -- I kind of like them, but not because I want to 
pre-book dances (except maybe a couple with my husband). I use them to 
write down the names of my partners after the fact, and I save them as a 
souvenir of the event.  Attending a ball, at least here in the U.S., is a 
a fairly expensive proposition (usually at least $40 a person, and 
substantially more in some cities).  It's nice to have a little keepsake 
(It is also popular among American SCD groups to createname buttons for 
everyone registered. Some have quite clever and/or attractive designs -- 
another nice souvenir).

Lara Friedman-Shedlov
Minneapolis, Minnesota USA


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Lara Friedman~Shedlov               "Librarians -- Like Google, but 
xxxx@xxxxxxx.xxx                       warm-blooded"
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